Tyrese Haliburton tallies big line anew as Pacers power past Bucks

Tyrese Haliburton had 31 points and 12 assists without committing a turnover, and seven Indiana players scored in double figures as the Pacers earned their second win over the Milwaukee Bucks in as many games with a 142-130 decision on Wednesday (Thursday, January 4, Manila time) in Indianapolis.

Facing for the fifth time this season and the fourth in fewer than four weeks, Indiana claimed the regular-season series in an at-times testy matchup.

Double technicals assessed to Milwaukee’s Andre Jackson Jr. and Indiana’s Obi Toppin in the fourth quarter marked a boiling point in a game with 66 combined free-throw attempts. The Bucks shot 24-of-32 at the foul line, and the Pacers were 28-of-34.

Milwaukee went 46-of-92 from the floor, while Indiana went 50-of-90 and 14-of-35 from 3-point range, led by Haliburton’s 5-of-11 from beyond the arc.

Indiana outscored Milwaukee 47-29 in the third quarter and shot 73.4 percent from the floor. Haliburton had six points and seven assists during the third quarter.

The Pacers led by double-digits much of the way after the mid-third quarter burst, pulling ahead by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee could not cut the gap to single digits. Haliburton provided the exclamation point with 1:56 remaining, dishing his final assist on a behind-the-back pass to Myles Turner for a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Turner and Bruce Brown each finished with 15 points, and Jalen Smith chipped in 13 points.

Bennedict Mathurin scored 16 points off the bench as Indiana’s reserves outscored Milwaukee’s bench players 59-38. Fellow reserves Toppin, who grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, scored 15 points and Buddy Hield added 10 points.

Giannis Antetokounmpo led Milwaukee with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Damian Lillard scored 23 points, but shot just 2-of-8 from 3-point range as the Bucks finished 14-of-37 as a team.

Khris Middleton added 19 points and Brook Lopez scored 16. – Rappler.com